The third game of the Stanley Cup Final attracted soft numbers on NBCSN.
Game 3 of the Kings/Rangers NHL Stanley Cup Final earned a 1.7 U.S. rating and 2.9 million viewers on NBCSN Monday night, down 26% in ratings and 28% in viewership from Blackhawks/Bruins last year (2.3, 4.0M) but up 70% and 66%, respectively, from Devils/Kings in 2012 (1.0, 1.7M).
Kings/Rangers Game 3 ranks as only the #2 game of the playoffs on cable, trailing Kings/Blackhawks Game 7 by a decent margin (4.1M). With that said, Game 3 also ranks as the tenth-most watched NHL telecast ever on NBCSN (previously VERSUS and OLN), and fourth when Blackhawks games are excluded.
Monday’s game finished well behind Game 2 of the series on Saturday, which earned a 3.7 and 6.4 million viewers on NBC thanks to The Belmont Stakes. The loss of 3.5 million viewers is the largest game-to-game drop in the Stanley Cup Final since NBC and NBCSN began airing the event in 2006.
Game 3 had a 1.2 rating among adults 18-49, down 25% from last year (1.6) but up 100% from 2012 (0.6). Saturday’s Game 2 had a 2.1 in the demo on NBC, and Game 1 last Wednesday had a 1.9.
(Mon. numbers from The Futon Critic with additional info from twitter.com/sonofthebronx)
